Blonde is Blond
by James Tuddrussell
Summary: Naruto made a big mistake, and the Demon Fox gave him one more chance in exchange for his freedom. Now Naruto is six years old again, only this time he's a Yamanaka girl. Gen, AU, Fem Naruto, and Character Death. Rated T for laguage and violence.
1. Chapter 1

Blonde is Blond: Chapter One

Naruto gazed sightlessly into the empty void. Everything was wrong, he felt like he was drifting, falling, and staying absolutely still at the same time. The sensory deprivation was beginning to get to him, he would have to do something quick before madness set in. He relaxed his grip on consciousness and drifted into the back of his mind.

A grand hallway opened before his eyes, many locked doors holding his greatest secrets and hidden memories branched off from the hallway. This is the deepest part of his mind, and it's said that accepting that you are the worst of yourself as well as the best is the first step towards enlightenment, but Naruto wasn't in the mood for self reflection. He came here to speak with his special friend.

Reaching the end of the hallway, he saw a huge door with no obvious way of opening. He boldly approached it, and knocked on it. The door swung open with a searing crimson wind, the angry and hot chakra lingering in the air fouled his lungs. He stepped through the gate to find a dank cave lined with crude smelling torches, he walked the now familiar way into the dark part of his soul.

The shadows around him gurgled, and the rocks groaned and pulsed. It felt more like crawling up an intestine than waking down a tunnel. When he finally arrived in the Kyuubi's room Naruto was in no mood to deal with the Fox's showboating. "I know you can't kill me, why even try anymore?"

The red eyes behind the rusty bars narrowed. "I can, and should kill you. You are the one who damned us to this miserable existence in the first place! Still, you should be proud. Not many mortals can claim the title of Destroyer of Worlds, and not even the Ancients have succeed in destroying an entire **UNIVERSE!" **Naruto scowled. "It's not my fault, how was I supposed to know that draining the Statue would do that!" The Kyuubi glared at him. "Oh I don't know, because I **told** **you that it** **would**!"

Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "He he, I thought you were using reverse psychology on me!" The Kyuubi had a flat look in his eyes. "Reverse psychology... I am a **DEMON**, if I want something I don't beat around the bush, I just say what I want! It should be obvious, even to a feeble mind such as yours. The amount of chakra sealed in that statue was immense, and the moment you brought it into your body you doomed us. **USING ALL THAT CHAKRA TO MAKE A RASENGAN DOOMED EVERYONE THAT HAS, AND WILL HAVE HAVE EVER EXISTED IN THAT UNIVERSE!" **Naruto winced. "I still don't understand..."

The Kyuubi rammed into the cage. "What you did was essentially take the power of a billion suns, and compacted it into the size of a pebble! You literally set the fabric of reality on fire! We're lucky that the Greater Kami were on the ball enough to sever the ties between our universe and the greater bulk of universes!" Naruto nodded. "If the universe is gone... then where are we?" The Kyuubi waved his tails in irritation. "My best guess would be the outer planes, the space between universes, or some other sort of nullspace." Naruto raised his eyebrows. "So... What do we do now?"

The Kyuubi hummed to himself, which put Naruto on edge. "I can send you to another universe, but that still doesn't solve your little being dead problem. I still have six tails, that will be enough chakra to rip two portals in this nullspace, and still leave me with two tails." Naruto frowned. "You're not coming with me?" The Kyuubi slumped. "What do you think? I gave up three tails to save myself, the only reason your soul hasn't crossed over is becaus it's bound to mine and I can't kill you without damning myself in the process. What you need is a universe like our old one, except without any direct relatives of yours and a brain dead body for you to inhabit." Naruto watched as the Kyuubi was looking through his notes. "Why can't I have any relatives?" The Kyuubi answered him as he was looking. "Because then your soul would seek them out, and merge with theirs. Without any relatives you'd seek out the next closest compatible match, if their will is weak enough you'd displace them entirely."

The Kyuubi closed the last scroll, and then began rummaging in the pile of scrolls he'd already read. "Ah yes, here we go. A lovely little place that is a near exact match in terms of rules, history, and expected future." Naruto smiled at that. The Kyuubi waved his tails in a hypnotic circular arc, and a portal opened up on either side of the room. Mine's on the left, release the seal before you leave." Naruto frowned again, but did as he said... And immediately ran into the portal before the now two tailed fox could get him. A flash filled Naruto's entire being, and he closed his eyes.

When he opened them he saw a man he vaguely remembered meeting a few times looking over him with a concerned expression. "Are you okay princess? You've been out for a few weeks now, I was starting think that you'd never wake up!" Naruto balked at being called princess, but answered him. His voice sounded strange.

Naruto tried to get up, but all he could manage was moving his arms. The blond man hugged him. "Don't try to move Ino, you still need to recover." Naruto's eyes shot open at being called THAT. Looking down on his, or rather her, body confirmed that he was indeed Ino Yamanaka. Specifically six year old Ino, right after her first attempt at using the Mind Transfer Jutsu.

Her soul was lost on that day, but the body now had a new occupant: Naruto Uzumaki, Slayer of Infinity.


	2. Chapter 2

Blonde is Blond: Chapter Two

Naruto, or rather I suppose _Ino_, left the hospital after a few days of observation. She was really off her game, and the change in gender was the least of her problems. She had spent a good bit of time using her Sexy Jutsu, and was reasonably comfortable with such a form. The real trouble was that she was not herself, she was someone else. Someone _young_.

The biggest problem was that she had never had so little chakra. Even the times that she had been near death from chakra exhaustion she had more than she did now. It was a surreal experience, she felt that a pressure she had never realized was there just disappeared. She felt weak as well, sluggish. Though she wasn't sure if that was form the small amount of chakra she had, or because her body had been in bed for a few weeks.

She would have to train in chakra control. She doubted that even with the best of training she could get anywhere near the chakra level she was used to. For the first time in her life, she actually considered learning things like genjutsu and medical jutsu. That however, will have to wait. For now she would need to settle in to her new life.

As she walked home she practised moving her chakra around, to get a feel for her new system. She was disturbed at how easy it was to move it, it was like it was truly an extension of herself. Her chakra system was a lot like it was when she was a young boy, except for the area around her navel. Before it felt like a labyrinth, or a clogged toilet, now it was more like a basin. As she was playing with her chakra, her father was watching her closely.

"There's no reason to fuss about your chakra, you weren't under long enough for your pathways to atrophy." Naruto looked up at her new father, and smiled reassuringly. "I know, but it's a good habit nonetheless. Keeps out the kinks."

Inoichi didn't know whether to be proud or suspicious, but eventually the father in him took over and he patted her on the head. "We'll have to work on your physical training for the next few weeks. After we've made up for lost time we'll start back up on your jutsu training."

They proceeded to do just that, Naruto worked her new body as much as she could. A month or so after that she began learning the Yamanaka clan jutsu, she claimed partial amnesia and so her father retaught her.

She got the basic mind transfer jutsu down after a few tries, Inoichi made sure to walk her through every step of the way. "Alright Ino, you seem to have learned it rather well. This technique is extremely useful. With a little training you can displace the minds of just about anything."

Naruto smiled. "So, can I use it on animals? What are its limits?" Inoichi patted her on the head. "It can be used on anything with a mind! However you cannot supplant a will stronger than your own, so I wouldn't try it on a a summon or a advanced ninja."

He thought for a minute. "As for the limitations, it isn't exactly something that can be used too many times, or in rapid succession. If you train your mind to its peak you might be able to use it about six times before wearing yourself out, and speaking of, if you ever wear yourself out wait at least a few hours before trying again."

He looked at her gravely. "This puts you mind under a lot of stress, if you don't keep an eye on your mental state you could cause some serious damage. It is important that we know our limits. Another thing is that it if you miss it will take time to recover, and when you are using it your body is at risk. Any damage you take while in someone else body will effect yours as well."

Naruto practised the jutsu for several more month, both by herself and with Inoichi, until she felt comfortably skilled with it. One night, sometime later she snuck out of her house and made her way to the scroll archives.

She found an out of the way hiding spot and used her new jutsu on a mouse she caught for this purpose. As the mouse she ran out of the hiding spot and scurried into the building. Snooping around for a while, she eventually came across one of the scrolls she was looking for.

She quietly nibbled the seal, and opened the scroll. She quickly memorized every last detail and moved on to the others she needed. Four hours later she returned to her body, and ran home. When she got there she copied all the information she got onto empty scrolls she had waiting for her.

All in all she got several basic genjutsu, a guide to learning to use genjutsu, a few medical scrolls, and several advanced chakra exercises.

A few months later was Ino's birthday. Naruto woke up, had breakfast, and started training again. She didn't care about her real birthday, why would she care about her body's? Naruto went through a taijutsu form she was working on, it was based on a grass country style that uses an opponents movements against them.

It was primarily defensive, and focused on speed and flexibility. However when combined with a knife style she was working on it became quite deadly. The knife style uses speed and precision. However she was having trouble combining the water nature of her movements with the wind nature of her strikes.

She started when she heard a voice behind her. "Ino-chan, you need to pick one way of moving and stick with it. Mixing them, while possible, is just too much work for too little benefit." The man speaking to her was Shikaku, Shikamaru's father. "You seem to respond better to the strikes you were making, so you should try to move your body that way. Take what you know about the two styles you are using, and adapt it to what suits you."

Naruto nodded, and got to work on that. She focused more on making her movements a bit more rigid by adding power to it, and focusing more on making a lot of small movements rather than the long and loopy movements of the original style. The results were choppy and awkward, but showed promise.

Shikaku smirked, and popped open a bottle of sake. "Atta kid, remember that you shouldn't force a technique to fit you or force yourself to fit a technique. Either adapt it to yourself or adapt yourself to it." Naruto rolled her eyes as he took a swig of it.

The party was pretty much uneventful, Naruto got some presents... Most of which were inconsequential, and would never see the light of day. Some new clothes that were okay, and some shinobi equipment.

Shikaku spoke with Inoichi in private when they met at their bar. "You do know that the person living with you is not your daughter right?" Inoichi had some suspicions, but just shrugged them off as a lingering effect of her coma.

Shikaku drank the last of his sake, and slammed it on the table. He wiped his mouth and looked back at his friend. "She walks like a shinobi, talks like a boy, and has knowledge Ino could never have known and lacks knowledge she should very well have. I saw it the first time I laid my eyes on her after the accident, she was fundamentally different. I don't know why you didn't see it."

Inoichi looked down at the table. "I.. Didn't want to see it. I wanted nothing more than to have my little girl back. It is possible that a spirit could have taken residence in her body if she lost her soul in the accident... But that would mean my daughter is dead!" Inoichi broke the bottle in his hand and huddled over the table. He took several deep breaths, then looked at his friend urgently.

"How do we handle this situation?" Shikaku put his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Confront, interrogate, and if necessary eliminate. We need to know who, or _what,_ we are dealing with."

Inoichi looked down at his hands, he watched his blood mix with the booze as tears came to his eyes.

Later that night Naruto found herself strapped onto a table in the Yamanaka estate. She figured they'd catch on to her ruse eventually, but she thought she was doing a good job so far. Inoichi and Shikaku stood above her. Shikaku started the interrogation. "State your _real _name, your _real_ rank, and your _real_ affiliation. I'll know if you're lying."

Naruto smiled lightly. "Naruto Uzumaki, Chuunin, Konoha." Shikaku looked at Inoichi, who nodded. "Well, that's... odd. The Uzumaki clan is no more, and you're not on the ninja record."

Naruto nodded as best she could. "Well you see I am, or _was_, kind of dead. Your daughter's body was kind too good of an opportunity to pass up. She wasn't home, but the door was open and I was all alone in the cold..." Inoichi felt like smacking her, but he couldn't. Shikaku had no such reservations.

"You slime! Get out of my friends daughter!" Naruto whined. "I already died once, I'm not doing it again!" Inoichi took a deep breath. "She has a point as much as I hate to say it. We can't, rightfully, ask her to kill herself just so I have a body to bury. If nothing else, Ino wouldn't have wanted it that way."

Inoichi looked at her, and then formed a seal. Shikaku caught him when he fell.

Inoichi found himself in a small apartment. He found Naruto slumped on the couch, with a kick, he woke him up. Naruto stood up, he was almost as tall as Inoichi. "Hey!"

Inoichi punched him as hard as he could, then kicked him in the stomach. "Ow, what's that about?" Inoichi growled at him. "That's for stealing my daughter's body and for lying to me!" Inoichi took a few deep breaths. He then drew a seal on the wall and threw some scrolls to the floor.

"Those are the Yamanaka clan techniques, you can have them... But only if you promise to leave me in peace, I want to mourn my daughter and I can't do it if you're around! Just meditate on that seal, and you'll come here."

Inoichi, as if on a whim, kicked him in the gut once more. "When I let you go, I am going to tell the Hokage about this. While I'm doing that you are to pack the things that belong to _YOU_ and leave. Do _not _taker my daughter's things, you can have those scrolls you stole and the stuff you got for her birthday. Just touch this seal when you want to leave here. Oh, and that last kick was because your apartment is filthy."

Naruto left after putting the scrolls away, she then packed up what belonged to her and left for the Hokage's office.

She avoided Inoichi like she was told to, and entered the Hokage's chamber when it was her turn. Naruto sat before the Third Hokage. He looked down at her, and sighed. "I am to believe that you are not Ino Yamanaka. I want to hear in your own words who you are."

Naruto nodded. "I am Naruto Uzumaki, in life I was a Chuunin. I am loyal to Konoha." The Hokage nodded. "How old are you?" Naruto thought for a bit. "I was sixteen when I died."

The Hokage leaned back in his chair. "How are you related to Kushina Uzumaki?" Naruto grimaced, the Hokage would definitely know if she was lying.. "She's... my mother." Sarutobi's eyebrows shot up at that. "I can't say anymore about it." The Hokage didn't press it, he decided to gauge her threat level instead. A ninja is nothing without their secretes after all.

"Do you wish to become a Konoha ninja?" Naruto nodded. The Hokage sighed. "If you were older I could appoint you a ninja, but as you are it would just cause problems. You will begin your studies at the ninja academy in a few days. I will grant you your name back, and get your papers in order. You will be Naruto Uzumaki the orphaned seven year old girl."

Naruto nodded sourly. "But won't people be a little suspicious, I mean Ino disappears and a girl her age that looks like her mysteriously pops up out of nowhere." The Hokage frowned. "Ino will be listed as deceased, and your papers will state that you are of Yamanaka blood. I recommend getting a hair cut."

Naruto thought for a bit. "I'm an underage orphan, right? That means I'm entitled to a housing and a stipend correct?" The Hokage nodded, and produced a key and a small pouch from one of his drawers. Naruto thanked him, and gathered her things. The Hokage signalled for the ANBU to follow her.

She made her way to her new apartment, casing the neighbourhood as she did so. She dropped off her stuff, and made a trip to one of the clothing stores. There she picked up a new outfit. It was a simple one. Orange shirt with whirlpool symbol, dark green jacket, brown shorts, and a green hat with the Konoha symbol on it. Naruto loved bargain bin sales.

Naruto began her training again, she focused on her taijutsu and studying the scrolls from the archive for now. The Yamanaka jutsu were a bit too advanced for her.

The academy was an odd experience for her, she actually paid attention and _learned_ things.


End file.
